Celebrated author Gretchen Rubin didn’t begin to blog in earnest until she’d signed a contract for the book that would become a national bestseller, “The Happiness Project”.
Rubin had already published several highly regarded and bestselling books related to culture and social criticism – “Power Money Fame Sex: A User’s Guide” – and popular history, “Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill” and “Forty Ways to Look at JFK.”
But for her book, “The Happiness Project,” which involved a year during which she would look for ways to increase the happiness in her life, and explore the notion of happiness itself, she decided to blog her experiences as she wrote her book. She began building her platform from the ground up. Her website is remarkably popular now, and continues to engage her growing audience and attract new readers.
“The Happiness Project” was an instant number-one New York Times bestseller, and rights to it were sold in 31 countries. Her publisher told me, when Rubin made one of her many appearances in support of the book, that he’d rarely seen such enthusiastic crowds, who were drawn, he was sure, from everyone who had followed her project through her blog – her platform.
Since then, Rubin has published another bestselling book along the same lines, “Happier at Home,” exploring happiness with those around her – in particular her family, and which became another bestseller. She has just launched her new book, “Better than Before,” which examines how to make good habits and break bad ones.
Since that first happiness book, built on her own savvy, her excellent writing and that tremendously popular site, Rubin has become an in-demand speaker, an expert on personal development and a continuous presence on bestseller lists.
All because she decided she would use her platform to build a book. She knows how to engage with readers and build an audience. She’s a natural at platform because she knows the power of speaking directly to her fans and listening to them as well.